“Andun, I can’t believe I let you talk me into this,” Akarias grumbled to his second in command as they strode down the long hallway to the landing area they had set up for their new ally’s airships.

“We can’t lock ourselves on this island forever,” the dark-skinned man said back. He stood a little taller than Akarias, but was quite a bit bulkier, his muscles freely visible with his brown, sleeveless robe. “With how the waters make it difficult to sail, these airships are our only chance.”

“Maybe,” Akarias shrugged. His family may have founded their nation, but he’d never liked ruling. The crown sat crooked on his mane of red hair, and as much as he might have liked the style of his fiery red sleeveless jacket and pants with gold trim, the fine silk would tear easily in a fight. It wasn’t practical. “I still can’t believe they want me to marry their daughter as part of the deal though. Why?”

Andun snorted a laugh. “Well, you had to pick someone eventually. You’re our king, and you need an heir.”

“Yeah, pick being the important part there. I would probably find someone to settle down with eventually, but I was hoping to pick them myself.”

Andun sighed. “At least meet her before you ruin this for us?”

Akarias smirked at him. “Really gonna talk to your king that way?” Not waiting for a reply to his teasing, he sighed and turned back as they reached the door to the courtyard. “I’ll meet her. Have to at this point. They’re already here, and they brought her to ‘present her’ to me after all.” With that, he pushed the door open and strode out into the courtyard set aside for their guests airship to land.

Akarias stood in the center of his cage in the rags they’d given him, struggling against the enchanted chains keeping him trapped on display. They kept him from switching to his elemental form and slipping out or unleashing more of his fiery potential than they needed for their show. And if he did  get out of control they had a pool of water rigged to drop on him. He couldn’t believe he’d let them trap him like this, but when he got out…

“Come on fire man! Show us what you can do!” One of the audience members jeered.

“How about you let me out and I’ll fuckin show ya what I can do alright!” Akarias roared back.

Akarias looked down, where Amaya had been sitting in his lap reading. He’d been working on adding a new coat of finish to his staff and she had just walked over and sat down, saying it was more comfortable than a chair. He hadn’t been about to complain, and just kept working, enjoying her warmth and weight.

But she must have been tired, because she was now just curled against his chest, her book forgotten on the ground where it fell from her hand. He smiled down at her contently,  reaching down to strokes her hair, his staff forgotten on the workbench as well.

Not My Type | Alright | Cute | Adorable | Pretty | Gorgeous | LORD MERCY

Akarias glanced over to see Sasuga enter the room as he was changing and froze up as he reached for his boxers. He was nervous and unsure what to do for a moment before quickly regaining his composure and trying to play it off with a cocky smile.

((Kinda nsfw so below cut))